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The New Reform Party of Ontario (NRP; french: Nouveau Parti réformiste de l'Ontario) was a minor provincial political party in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, that promoted a
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
,
fiscally conservative Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., '' ...
,
socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
,
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
, and
localist Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identi ...
ideology. It was formed in Hamilton in 1987 as the Family Coalition Party of Ontario (FCP) through 11,000 signatures fulfilling the
Elections Ontario Elections Ontario (french: Élections Ontario) is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario responsible for the administration of provincial elections and referendums. It is charged with the implementation and enforcement of t ...
requirements by members from the
Liberals for Life Liberals for Life was an anti-abortion advocacy group that worked within the Liberal Party of Canada during the 1980s and early 1990s. Some of its members were also affiliated with the Campaign Life Coalition and, as such, the group was often a ...
(a splinter group of the
Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
) and members of the
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
organization
Campaign Life Coalition The Campaign Life Coalition (sometimes shortened to Campaign Life) is a Canadian political lobbyist organization founded in 1978. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the organization advocates for socially conservative values. Campaign Life Coalition opp ...
. It has fielded candidates in every provincial election since then. None of its candidates were ever elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
. In late 2015, the FCP renamed itself the "New Reform Party of Ontario", which maintained the party's conservative social values, while also promoting conservative fiscal values. It began to overhaul its principles, policies, and platform, reorganizing the central office, and aiming to reestablish is provincial executive council regionally in time for the next provincial election in Fall 2018. The last leader of the NRP was James Gault and provincial party president was Lynne Scime. The party was deregistered by Elections Ontario in January 2016.


History

The FCP was founded in 1987, as a political extension of the anti-abortion organization
Campaign Life Coalition The Campaign Life Coalition (sometimes shortened to Campaign Life) is a Canadian political lobbyist organization founded in 1978. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the organization advocates for socially conservative values. Campaign Life Coalition opp ...
with
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
Liberal members from the splinter group
Liberals for Life Liberals for Life was an anti-abortion advocacy group that worked within the Liberal Party of Canada during the 1980s and early 1990s. Some of its members were also affiliated with the Campaign Life Coalition and, as such, the group was often a ...
. Donald Pennell, who had previously been a candidate for the
Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...
in the Burlington South riding during the 1975 provincial election, was chosen as the FCP's first leader. In addition to promoting an anti-abortion position, the party developed a platform opposed to divorce, euthanasia, same-sex marriage and adoption of children by same-sex couples, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, pornography, and contraception. The party's first election was the 1987 provincial election, where the party ran 36 candidates for 48,110 votes overall and 1.3% of the vote in only four weeks of existence to organize for a fourth place showing ahead of the Libertarians. This solid performance from the upstart party led to expansion into new ridings with bigger membership base. The party's strongest showing was in the 1990 provincial election, when it received over 100,000 votes, once again good enough for a fourth place showing ahead of the
Confederation of Regions Party The Confederation of Regions Party (CoR) was a right-wing politics, right-wing federal list of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada founded in 1984 by Elmer Knutson. It was founded as a successor to the Western Canada Federation ...
. In 1990, several candidates received over 10% of the popular vote (the best was 13%). The party ran 76 candidates. Its strong support declined dramatically in the
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
elections with fourth placings ahead of
Natural Law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
, followed by a modest recovery in
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
when the FCP ran in 51 of 103 ridings, but dropped from fourth to fifth place just below the Greens. The minor breakthrough was made, according to FCP leader Giuseppe Gori, through the democratization of the internet beyond the mainstream media and hope for a form of proportional representation ballot electoral reform. The party nominated 83 candidates in the 107 ridings for the 2007 provincial election; in those 83 ridings, it obtained 1.045% of the votes, or 0.82% province-wide. The FCP stayed in fifth place, under the Greens, but above the other minor parties. The loss of traction in 1995 was blamed on the true blue wave of the Common Sense Revolution by the Mike Harris led Ontario PCs, taking with it a large swatch of
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
socially conservative constituency from the traditional FCP base of support via the "Mulroney Effect" as was coined by the Campaign Life Coalition. Pennell was succeeded by Giuseppe Gori in 1997, who lead the party into the 1999 election. The party achieved limited media attention by conducting a demonstration at Queen's Park featuring three " cloned sheep" to represent Progressive Conservative leader
Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...
,
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
leader
Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...
and
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...
leader
Howard Hampton Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy Ri ...
. The FCP's intent was both to indicate their opposition to cloning technology, and to suggest that the major parties were identical in ignoring family issues, using the slogan "Liberal, Tory, NDP same old status quo story". The FCP supported the 2007 electoral reform referendum for a
mixed-member proportional representation Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
(MMP) hybrid voting system. The FCP set, according to the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', a record for the number of family members running as candidates in a single election in 2007. Eight members of the Kidd family and six members of the Carvalho family are running as candidates in the Greater Toronto Area. The newspaper could not find a Guinness Book record for such a feat. The party nominated 31 candidates in the 107 ridings for the 2007 provincial election; in those 31 ridings, it obtained 0.23% of the votes province-wide. The FCP dropped to sixth place as the Greens and Libertarians surpassed. Gori stepped down in 2009, and Phil Lees was acclaimed leader. After the 2011 provincial election, the FCP worked on local advocacy campaigns within various communities around the province, most notably involving the challenge of Bill 13, the anti-bullying legislation introduced by the Ontario Liberal government. Lees was a speaker at two Queen's Park Bill 13 protest rallies in early 2012. Education soon became the prime issue for the FCP. The FCP stated in early 2014 that it intends to become more active and visible between elections, to better represent what it calls the "traditional-principled" electorate in Ontario, which led it to move closer towards a grassroots participatory democratic political ideology. After the 2014 election, the
Reform Party of Ontario The Reform Party of Ontario (RPO) (PRO; french: Parti Réformiste de l'Ontario) was a minor political party in Ontario, Canada. Until the 1999 provincial election, the party ran one candidate each election in order to keep the party's name in t ...
had been deregistered by
Elections Ontario Elections Ontario (french: Élections Ontario) is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario responsible for the administration of provincial elections and referendums. It is charged with the implementation and enforcement of t ...
for failing to run candidates, and the FCP had finished poorly with its worst showing in a distant seventh place, running only six candidates in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
for 0.09% of the votes province-wide for the former fourth party just more than a quarter century previous. The party voted to change its name to the New Reform Party of Ontario (NRP) in a December 2014 membership vote and began the process to overhaul its principles, policies, and platform, reorganizing the central office, and reestablishing provincial executive council regionally in time for the next provincial election. In 2015, Gault stood in the
Simcoe North Simcoe North (french: Simcoe-Nord) is a federal electoral district in central Ontario, Canada. It was established as a federal riding in 1867. Demographics :''According to the Canada 2011 Census''; 2013 representation'' Ethnic groups: 87.8% ...
byelection against newly chosen Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown; Gault placed fifth out of eight candidates, with 197 votes and 0.50%. The party was deregistered in 2016, shortly after Gault filed to run in the
Whitby—Oshawa Whitby—Oshawa was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Following the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution, the bulk of the district became part ...
by-election; Gault was formally included an independent, though he continued to promote the party. He later withdrew from the race and endorsed Greg Vezina of the None of the Above Party of Ontario, which he stated shared the NRP's "3Rs of Democracy" idea of responsible government, referendum, and recall.https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FLCn_gAfkZ0J:https://www.facebook.com/James-Gault-Whitby-Oshawa-649844761808304/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca


Relationship with the Christian Heritage Party

The NRP's membership overlapped significantly with that of the federal
Christian Heritage Party of Canada The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (french: Parti de l'héritage chrétien du Canada), also referred to as CHP Canada, is a minor social conservative and Christian right federal political party in Canada; it was founded in 1987, the brainch ...
. The parties shared many
socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
policies, but had no organizational connection.


Ideology

New Reform Ontario's principles remained the same as they were with the FCP, which include respect for life, freedom, and ownership of property. The NRP "adheres to principles expressed in the Canadian Constitution that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law, natural law and just human law. The New Reform Party believes in the democratic principle of subsidiarity: Government is an institution created by people, while people’s fundamental rights are inherent in every human being as each one is created by the Creator God. The role of government is restricted to what individuals and private organizations cannot do by themselves. The New Reform Party is committed to restricting its own policies and rule accordingly, were it elected to govern." The NRP believed all people are equal and should be treated as such under the law. On familial issues, they emphasized "the family, rather than the individual" as the "basic building block of our society", and asserted that the promotion of stronger family units will result in reduced social problems and a more robust workforce. On marriage issues, the party emphasised the family unit, favouring heterosexual married couples, as it opposed spousal benefits for same-sex couples and common-law heterosexual couples. The NRP supported increasing personal and spousal tax exemption, and providing assistance to single mothers who choose to carry a pregnancy to term. It also recognized "the work of mothers in the nurturing of children", and supported increased tax benefits for stay-at-home parents. The party opposed Sunday shopping and supported a housing and taxation policy beneficial to family. On human life issues, the party supported an end to the taxpayer funding and support of abortion by the government, and the "harvesting" and production of "spare parts" by keeping anencephalic babies alive. On education issues, they supported funding of all schools, not just the public and Catholic systems favouring options for families to choose the form of education that best suits their values and needs, and the protection of parental values in the school setting. The party's "Contract with Ontario", after the 2007 election, incorporated 12 points: "We will not breach your trust and we will uphold the truth; we will govern according to moral principles, defending life, freedom and property; we believe in the value and dignity of the human person over and above material goods, ideologies and corporate entities; we will defend the traditional family as the first government where children are educated in knowledge, wisdom and responsibility; we believe any government above the family is delegated and must be chosen through fair and democratic elections; we will maintain an optimum amount of government and avoid government duplication of what individuals, families, associations, groups and businesses can do; we believe an optimum amount of government can greatly improve the economic environment and thus, the standard of living, employment levels, and wealth creation; we believe people have free will and are called to exercise it; we believe people are dignified by employment; we believe people fully develop their potential by self-employment; we believe competition and high standards drive excellence; we do not believe in government or corporate monopolies." The New Reform Ontario's ideals on various matters were generally traditional, being fiscal, economic, social, libertarian reformed conservative in tone, although not universally so. For one example, the NRP opposed the privatization and firesale of Hydro One by the Wynne Ontario Liberal government to pay down the debt and balance the budget, as it had no mandate from its recent majority election having not run on the idea and is just a "quick cash grab to pay short term projects and past financial mistakes" which run counter to free market economics. New Reform Ontario supported a reduction in the size of government, and "the long-term removal of all measures that insulate industries, businesses, financial institutions, professions and trade unions from domestic and foreign competition". The NRP believed that the limited government has a reduced role to play in issues relating to environmental, educational, and health care management, and ensuring access to health services regardless of ability to pay.


Party leaders

* Donald Pennell (1987–1997) * Giuseppe Gori (1997–2009) * Phil Lees (2009–2014) * Eric Ames (2014) (interim) * James Gault (2014–2016)


Election results


Election candidates

* Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 1987 Ontario provincial election * Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 1990 Ontario provincial election * Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 1995 Ontario provincial election *
Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 2003 Ontario provincial election The Family Coalition Party of Ontario is a socially conservative party in Ontario, Canada. The party ran fifty-one candidates in the 2003 Ontario provincial election, none of whom were elected. This page also includes information about FCP candid ...
* Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 2007 Ontario provincial election * Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 2011 Ontario provincial election * Family Coalition Party of Ontario candidates, 2014 Ontario provincial election


See also

*
List of Ontario general elections This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Ontario's unicameral legislative body, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The number of seats has varied over time, from 82 for the first election in ...
* List of Ontario political parties


References


External links

* * {{Canadian Conservative Parties 1987 establishments in Ontario 2016 disestablishments in Ontario Conservative parties in Canada Organizations based in Hamilton, Ontario Political parties established in 1987 Political parties disestablished in 2016 Defunct provincial political parties in Ontario Right-wing populism in Canada